Rep. West Attacks Rep. Rush For "Immature Gimmickry" On The House Floor

March 29, 2012 5:42 pm ET
- by Salvatore Colleluori

Earlier today on Laura Ingraham's radio show, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) commented on his colleague Rep. Bobby Rush's (D-IL) decision to don a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses while making a floor speech about the Trayvon Martin shooting. From The Hill:

West said the incident might be funny now, but he speculated that at the time, Capitol Police were likely concerned.

"Initially, they did not know who it was and they were concerned that someone had just walked off of the street or kind of had broken away from a tour group," West said on conservative Laura Ingraham's radio show.

"Look, this is the type of immature gimmickry we see coming from the other side that you know, does not have any place, especially on the House floor and really in the United States," he continued.

Clearly, West wasn't concerned with what Rush actually did or the message Rush was trying to convey. As The Hillpointed out, Rush took off a suit jacket that he wore onto the house floor prior to pulling the hoodie, which was under his jacket, onto his head. (Rush was giving a floor speech condemning the remarks of Fox News' Geraldo Rivera, who claimed that wearing "the hoodie" played a part in Trayvon's death.) Despite West's criticisms of "the other side," it's Republican Rep. Don Young (AK) who definitely takes the "gimmickry" cake.

Last year during a committee hearing, Rep. Young wore a propeller beanie with the Obama campaign logo on it and the words "Obama's energy plan," in an obvious attempt to mock the President's energy strategy.

While the two incidents are clearly different (for many reasons), it shows that when it comes to Democrats, Rep. West will attack them for almost anything — even for protesting a situation that he himself called "an outrage" last week.